Enhanced with a wider stance in larger sizes, the Stigma is a smart pick for female recreational riders who prefer their aggro on the groomed and throughout the park. Like the value-minded men's Clash and Bullet, the Stigma Snowboard uses an affordable and proven Fly wood core, a strategic balance of lighter woods in specific areas for better response and denser woods where support is essential. If you cut the board open, you would see that the wood grain along the toe and heel edges runs perpendicular to the rest of the wood core in a design called DualZone Edge Grain Direction, a process that enhances edging while adding durability. Bi-directional layers in the Biax React fiberglass give the board a little more flex than boards with Triax fiberglass, giving you a little more forgiveness when you need it. Compared to other boards, the Stigma has a mellow flex that's predictable enough that it quickly inspires confidence among beginner riders. The Lightspeed Vision Base offers an incredibly smooth extruded base that can glide even without wax. Unlike some entry-level snowboards, the Stigma has a negative core profile, not an even core profile that sometimes offers more stability to beginners. The negative core profile could lengthen the learning curve a tad for some riders, but the advantage is that new riders learn how to control the board through independent foot control sooner than riders who later transition (with added expense) to a negative core snowboard. Because most Burton boards feature a negative core profile, transitioning from a Stigma to a more advanced women's snowboard doesn't require much adaptation.